How Jose Mourinho Found Paul Pogba a Perfect Midfield Partner

And Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic? Well, we will have to wait on that one, but the first signs were worryingly promising. Against West Ham United, in Manchester United’s first Premier League game of the season, Matic did all the work Pogba is too creative to want to do on a consistent basis, cleaning up behind him and generally providing a sense of positional awareness that United lacked last season, especially when Marouane Fellaini played next to Pogba

“I think we [Pogba and Matic] play together very well,” Matic told United’s official website on Friday. “We help each other. I have to say he played good in attack and also helped a lot when we were defending. He always played next to me. We are there on the pitch to fight for each other. We will continue like this and I’m happy to have him in the team.”

It’s interesting that Matic points out Pogba’s defensive contribution, because that isn’t something the Frenchman has often been praised for. Criticisms of Pogba’s defensive awareness seemed justified at times last season, particularly from set pieces.

It is illuminating, though, how quickly inserting a player like Matic into a football team can improve the perception of the players around him. Another complaint about Pogba last season, less fair than barbs about his defensive game, surrounded the idea that a footballer costing £89 million should be able to perform without players bought specifically to help him out.

It’s a nonsense theory, of course, and the signing of Matic proves it. Mourinho knows that Pogba’s game is at its best when he is allowed to break forward without concern for what is going on behind him. The fourth goal against West Ham, when Pogba strode into an advanced midfield area before unleashing a precise shot past Joe Hart, is the kind of thing Mourinho must have envisaged when he bought Matic.

Initial impressions, only. If Matic and Pogba dovetail against Swansea City on Saturday like they did against West Ham, perhaps United supporters will have cause to get giddier.